Its really sad how many bands slipped through the cracks in the early '80s, it was a time when punk ruled still, and new wave was just coming up, and for bands who played a hybrid of the two somehow just were overlooked. Action Now were one of those bands. This record is loaded with great little powerpop / mod gems .

The band was a four piece and hailed from Southern California's San Gabriel Valley and was in most respects, like any other power-pop band of the time—obsessed with record collecting and dedicated to stringing together as many three-minute, three-chord nuggets as they had in them. To the degree that Action Now was separated from the pack, they were distinct thanks to the drive of one Paula Pierce, a former accordion whiz who started a band back in her early teens that morphed through countless lineups and names to wind up as Action Now.

After Action Now broke up, Pierce went on to form a somewhat more successful group The Pandoras. Sadly she passed away far to young of a brain aneurysm in 1991.

Friday, February 27, 2009

I'd like to thank Paul Powell; who was kind enough to give me this info on the band.
G squad were a mostly Norfolk, based four piece; that were around from 1979 til 1982. This single as well, as a few other songs were recorded at Octopus Studios in Stowupland, Suffolk over two sessions.They have a website that has some pics , memorabilia, and some sound clips from a cd you can purchase. I'll leave the link at the bottom. band members were:

This record is just about powerpop perfection!! My favorite track on this is we're too young , But the A side is great as well .The Boys were a Lincoln Nebraska band, that put out three singles . This being the second and my favorite out of the three. Their first single was from 1975, and their last from 1980. I'm not sure how long they were around after that ..OUTRAGE RECORDS 1977.1. YOU MAKE ME SHAKE2. WE'RE TOO YOUNG.***DOWNLOAD***

The Tours were a great short lived four piece pop punk outfit from Bournemouth & Poole, South United Kingdom. They signed to Virgin Records in 1979 after selling large quantities of their self produced and distributed , Language School/Foreign Girls double A side 7" single. Radio 1 DJs John Peel and Mike Reid championed the band which led to a bidding war between Virgin, Polydor, Sire and EMI records. Eventually the band signed to Virgin but the association was shortlived after an augment between the band and the label led the other founder/leader Ronnie Mayor to quit. This is one of two great singles that came out in 1979 . According to their myspace they are working on releasing some sort of unreleased album. how cool would that be. Go check it out. They also have a couple of cool tunes I never heard from them before..REFERENCES - BEATFORTWO http://beatfortwo.blogspot.com/2006/12/beatfortwentythree-ronnie-sings.html MYSPACE http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=402335276.VIRGIN RECORDS 1979.1. TOURIST INFORMATION2. YOU KNOW.***DOWNLOAD***

This is definitely one of my favorite records. All of Really Red's records are great but this one holds a special place in my heart. I found this article on their myspace and thought it was really good, so here you go . Really Red was one of Houston's first Punk bands in the late 70's, along with others like Legionaire's Disease, Plastic Idols, and the Hates. Their roots can be traced as far back as the 60's when Ronnie and Kelly had a high school band called The Lords, who played original songs. A few years later they met up with John Paul and established themselves as shit-disturbers in the oppressive pre-punk days of the early-to-mid-70's. As a band, they had existed for years under various names, doing mainly covers, until they were stunned by their first Legionaire's Disease gig. They evolved into Houston's most prominent Punk band of that era. Their sound developed into something unique and distinctive, while never straying too far from it's loud, fast, aggressive roots. Back in those days punk only had one rule, and that was "make your own rules". It was an amazing time to be alive. The formulas and cliches that have been plagueing punk for years now at that time had yet to taint it's original vision, and the ground was fertile for new sounds, new attitudes, and new ideas. Really Red delivered in spades on all three of those angles. As a band they built on the new sounds. They brought all kinds of influences to bear on the example from England. Just like Austin's Big Boys and The Dicks, they made something specifically Texan out of punk rock. Their left-wing politics embraced their lone star legacy. The result was inventive, multi-faceted, and powerful. They left behind memories of countless awesome, passionate, high-energy shows, and a legacy of classic recordings. Along with a few other groundbreaking local bands, they helped kick-start the early punk scene in Houston and spread their message further by taking to the road and playing with other such pioneering acts as DOA, the Avengers, and Dead Kennedys to name but a few. In Houston, they helped make the local scene explode and created a sense of community like no other local band has done previously or since. They worked as hard as they played, and they thrived on the DIY ethic, starting their own C.I.A. label. As well as fronting Really Red, lead singer U-Ron hosted the "Funhouse" radio show on Pacifica's KPFT, cracking open many a young suburban Houston mind to punk and other new underground music. Their contributions to the early Houston and Texas underground scene cannot be overstated yet due to historical inaccuracies has been overlooked for some reason. Really Red broke up in 1985 after releasing 2 albums, 2 singles, 2 EP's, and tracks on various compilations. Their classic '81 LP "Teaching You The Fear" has recently been re-issued on Empty Records.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

I really like this record , especially the first track . I couldn't find anything on these guy's, so as always if you have any info on them it would be much appreciated . The Kindred were a three piece mod/punk outfit that gave a San Jose California mailing address on the back of this record anyway . From what I can tell they put out two or three singles, and maybe a couple of comp tracks. And then the trail seems to disappear. So I'm going to assume that they are no more ..GI PRODUCTIONS 1996.1. TREATING ME BAD2. LEAVING HERE3. WISH YOU WERE DEAD.***DOWNLOAD***

This is one of the more underrated bands that you will find from the late 70's early 80's era . I'm not sure why they didn't make it . Maybe they didn't look punk enough for their sound . Or maybe they didn't sound pop enough for their look . England was very uniform oriented at that time . And that probably had something to do with it . But man did they put out some great records . I love this band !!! and I highly recommend all their records . The Carpettes were from Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne and Wear, England . They formed in 1977, and released a number of singles , (this being their third) on various labels and two albums on the Beggars Banquet Records label . They also recorded two Peel sessions. what's cool about this record is the non lp track on side two .The band was formed in 1977 by Neil Thompson (vocals, guitar), George Maddison (bass), and Kevin Heard (drums) (all three had played together since 1974 in Brown Sugar), although Heard had already been replaced by former Young Bucks drummer Tim Wilder by the time of the band's first release, the Radio WunderbarEP, released on the Walthamstow-based indie labelSmall Wonder. The band named their follow-up single "Small Wonder" in the label's honour. They recorded two sessions for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show in 1978. In 1979, they signed to Beggars Banquet Records, who issued their debut album, Frustration Paradise, towards the end of that year, the band now associated with the Mod revival of the time. A second album followed in 1980, with a final single released in December that year, before the band split up in June 1981.The band reunited in 1996 to perform at the first Holidays in the Sun festival, with Thompson and Maddison joined by Thompson's brother Paul. This led to a permanent reunion and the release of a new album in 2002, Fair Play to 'Em..REFERENCES - WIKIPEDIAhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_CarpettesMYSPACEhttp://www.myspace.com/thecarpettes

I'm not sure if these guy's are still around or not . I had a hard time finding anything about them . I remember that I bought this when I bought my first real computer . Detour used to have their web site so that you could listen to a small sound clip from the records before you ordered them . I don't know why they ever stoped that . I bought records from them that I may have not taken a chance on otherwise . Anyway, I was surprised to see that this is still available . I will include Detours link at the bottom . Go pick it up . Supersonic hail from Brussels, Belgium and their roots can be traced as far back as 1982. Although their 60s influences didn't really become apparent until fairly recently when they formed a band called BORIS AND THE SPIDERS specialising in Who covers. On poaching two members of the VICE BARONS, Supersonic was born and so far have already played alongside some of the more well known bands the Mod scene can offer, including KNAVE and the AARDVARKS .

Sunday, February 15, 2009

This is a great example of a sound that kind of became synonymous with the Australian scene of the mid 80's . The Someloves, were from Perth, Western Australia . Although there were other musicians who played on Someloves records, the band was essentially the project of songwriters Darryl Mather and Dom Mariani. Prior to forming the Someloves, both had been in notable Australian alternative rock bands of the early and mid-'80s. Mather did some time in the Lime Spiders, while Mariani was part of a less celebrated group, the Stems. These groups were based on opposite sides of Australia, but when Mather spent some time in Perth after leaving the Lime Spiders, he became friendly with Mariani. Mather returned to Sydney, but he and Mariani made their first recordings there in 1985, resulting in a single, "It's My Time," in 1986. With the help of bassist Tony Italiano and drummer Robbie Scorer, they recorded the bulk of the lp Something or Other in Perth in 1989, doing some overdubbing and mixing at Mitch Easter's Drive-In studio in North Carolina. The Mushroom label in Australia had invested a good deal of money in the record and when the band declined to tour Mushroom in turn declined to give the go-ahead for a second album. Both Mather and Mariani did remain active in the Australian rock scene, Mather going on to the Orange Humble Band album, and Mariani to DM3 and the instrumental group the Majestic Kelp, also recording a solo album in 2004. In 2006, the two-CD Someloves compilation Don't Talk About Us: The Real Pop Recordings of the Someloves 1985-89 reissued the Something or Other album on its first disc, adding seven previously released non-album tracks and two previously unissued items on disc two.

Besides the lpEternally Yours, this is my next favorite record from the Saints . My copy is the gate fold version . When the Saints first stepped in to a recording studio (Brisbane’s Window Studios) in June 1976, they had already been in operation for three years. The fact that the howling, milestone song they cut, ‘(I’m) Stranded’, had been written in 1974 is doubly prophetic. Issued in September 1976, in a limited run of 500 copies, on the band’s own Fatal Records imprint, ‘(I’m) Stranded’ remains one the greatest singles this country has ever seen.Alongside Radio Birdman’s ‘Burn My Eye’ EP (issued in October) ‘(I’m) Stranded’ kicked off the Australian new wave movement in a shower of teenage sweat and pure adrenaline. Fuelled by Ed Kuepper’s frenetic, surging power chords, Chris Bailey’s cheap’n’nasty vocal sneer and the reckless rhythmic drive provided by Kym Bradshaw and Ivor Hay, the song was an instant classic. When Bailey snarled “Aw-right!!” at the end of the chorus, you knew it was a celebration: he was happy to be stranded! Writer Stuart Coupe later called the single “powerhouse rock’n’roll” and “desperately exciting”.From an historical perspective, it’s important to note that this was when the Ramones debut album was still fairly new, and prior to the Damned, the Sex Pistols or the Clash even making it on to vinyl. The Saints seemed ideally placed for a prime spot amid the burgeoning punk phenomena, although the band members themselves didn’t see it that way. ‘(I’m) Stranded’ revealed more of a reverence to rock’n’roll’s timeless tenants than most of the then spiky-topped upstarts would ever have deemed important or even, heaven forbid, creditable.The single received scant attention in Australia; nevertheless the band sent copies overseas and were swiftly rewarded with glowing reviews in England’s Melody Maker, Sounds and punk fanzine Sniffin’ Glue, plus French paper Rock News. ‘(I’m) Stranded’ became a pioneering international proto-typical punk hit, yet the band still hadn’t played outside of hometown Brisbane; it was symptomatic of the times that Australia just didn’t know what it had in the Saints. Naturally EMI’s UK headquarters ordered the Australian office to sign the band.Harvest released, the ‘One-Two-Three-Four’ EP in October 1977. In the UK, the EP initially came out as a double single set with gatefold sleeve in a limited pressing of 12 000 copies, which then reverted to the standard, 4-track 7-inch EP packaging. Australia simply got the release as the 4-track 7-inch EP. Whatever the configuration, it was another strong release which matched re-recordings of two cuts from the debut album (‘Demolition Girl’ and ‘One Way Street’) with ragged but inspired covers of Ike and Tina Turner’s ‘River Deep Mountain High’ and Connie Francis’s ‘Lipstick on Your Collar’.The two covers had been in the Saints’ repertoire for many years, and what seemed to them to be a natural choice was, to many observers, an audacious, surprising and perhaps fool-hardy move. By that stage, the Saints had replaced bass player Bradshaw with Englishman Alasdair ‘Algy’ Ward (who joined in July), and completed work on their second album.This is a summarised version of some great info on the Saints. The link for the site this came from is below . This is liner notes from a double cd, available from Raven Records . I purchased a copy of it a few years back . If it's still available it's a worth while collection of Saints material . Go check it out ..REFERENCES - http://www.saintsmusic.com/raven_wild_2.html /.HARVEST RECORDS 1977.1. LIPSTICK ON YOUR COLLAR2. ONE WAY STREET3. DEMOLITION GIRL4. RIVER DEEP MOUNTAIN HIGH.***DOWNLOAD***

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Unfortunately, all of my pre 2/19/12 online files were lost during the takedown of Megaupload. I hope to eventually fix all of my broken links in time. But until then, if there's something you really want to hear I’ll consider requests.